Roofing panels are common in the art. Such prior art roofing panels include those disclosed in Simpson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,151; Widdowson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,269; Routt, U.S. Pat. No. 2,399,891; Sagendorph, U.S. Pat. No. 425,830; and Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 188,079.
An ideal roofing panel should have the following attributes. First, it should be aesthetically pleasing to the viewer. Where, as here, roofing panels having standing seams are desired for duplicating the "antiqued look," such standing seams should have aesthetically pleasing, slim profiles. The thickness of the standing seams should be minimized. Seam is defined as that portion of the roof where two roofing panels are mated or joined. Generally, the seam is a vertical extension that is orthogonal to the plane of the roofing panel. Next, the ideal roofing panel should be designed such that a user could assemble these roofing panels with ease. Cumbersome mechanical seaming devices or tools should not be required. In addition, the ideal roofing panel should be capable of minimizing wind uplift. Moreover, the ideal roofing panel should be permitted to thermally expand or contract. Further, mounting members for anchoring the roofing panel to a roof structure should be concealed, further enhancing the aesthetic appearance.
In light of such attributes, each of the abovementioned patents fails to include one or more of the attributes. For example, Routt fails to minimize the thickness of his interlocking seam. The thickness of his vertical extension is greater than three times the thickness of the roofing panel since the vertical extension includes the thickness of an anchoring plate. Similarly, the thickness of the seam of the roofing panel illustrated in Sagendorph also includes the thickness of an anchor In both Simpson and Smith, the thickness of each of their seams is approximately five times the thickness of the roofing panel. In addition, a mechanical seaming device must be used to form the seam in Smith. As for Widdowson, his standing seam must also be die-clinched or punched by a mechanical device.